~ Making Newton a Bicycle-Safe City

Bike Newton Rally & Ride is Making a Difference!

A few hundred people turned out yesterday to hear some good news about changes happening in Newton:

– Lois Levin, Bike Newton‘s indomitable President, led off comments by thanking everyone for attending, including Mayor Warren, Senator Creem, and Aldermen John Rice and Deb Crossley. The participation of so many politicians means biking is on the radar!

- Alderman John Rice announced the Sunday Promenades program: He, other Aldermen, neighborhood organizations, and Bike Newton are collaborating to carry out street closures in a variety of locations around Newton on Sundays in the summer to provide idyllic places for people to stroll, roller-blade, scoot, and bike. Lake St. around Crystal Lake will be a Sunday Promenade in August, and other Promenades will be announced soon

- Sean Roche of the Newton Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force described the changes happening to Beacon Street: Newton will be continuing Boston’s Beacon St. lane to the top of the hill at Hammond St. Let’s see if we can get it to continue all the way into Newton Center!

- Steve Miller, co-founder of Livable Streets, founder of Boston’s Hub on Wheels, (and author of a great blog) said he could see in Newton’s nascent changes a community gathering momentum.

- Finally, Mayor Warren gave the group an enthusiastic endorsement, and then led the ride down the Comm. Ave. carriage lane.

Newton is ready for bikes!

About Steve R

Steve R. has lived and biked in Newton since 2007, and joined the Bike Newton Steering Committee in 2008. He was the Clerk for several years, then took a breather while finishing courses towards a Master's degree in library science. He took on the mantle of being the bikenewton.org webmaster in the summer of 2012.